


Bandages

by JaspurrCat



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other, POV First Person, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 10:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18914812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaspurrCat/pseuds/JaspurrCat
Summary: Just a little vent I wrote to comfort myself a while ago after I had a particularly bad day.





	Bandages

**Author's Note:**

> U h h h h so this is my first time posting here, constructive criticism would be appreciated!

I was in Muriel's hut, snuggled up to him and humming softly as we sat together in front of the fire. I nuzzled his shoulder affectionately as he gently took my hand in his and interwined his fingers between mine. As he did that, one of his fingertips slid against my knuckle, and I yelped a bit and jerked back. Muriel yanked his hand away as though he had been burned and looked at me with great concern.

"A-Ah, sorry, sorry! It wasn't your fault, you didn't hurt me, there's already a cut there, see?" I sputtered without thinking, flipping over my hand for him to inspect. Shit. My heart sunk as I realized that I had intended to hide that from him, and here I was displaying it. He carefully slid his hand under mine and raised it a bit, his brow furrowing as he stared at the angry red scrape.

"What... did you do." He said flatly. I swallowed, my heart fluttering as I scrambled for an excuse.

"O-Oh, I uh-uh... I hit it against a tree on my way here! Yeah, I scratched it up pretty bad..." I mumbled lamely. He looked up into my eyes with a disapproving gaze, and I quickly broke eye contact and shrunk back, a hot flood of shame washing over me.

"....you're lying."

"Y-Yeah, I know... I'm sorry. I got anxious. Really, really anxious. Panic-attack-anxious. I... I did it to myself. I chewed on it til it bled. I bit a few others, but didn't break the skin..." I admitted, still not looking at him. I heard him sigh, and chanced a glance up at his face. He was scowling, and I felt my stomach twist up tighter and my eyes sting slightly, threatening to tear up.

He stood up, and I wrapped my arms around myself as he shuffled away. Damn it. I felt stupid and ashamed. Why couldn't I control myself? Why couldn't I just--

Oh.

Before I could get sucked into the spiral, Muriel had settled back in front of me and taken my hand into his again. He had a little bottle of salve that he dipped a finger into, then spread it over my knuckle. I expected it to sting, but instead it was cool and soothing. He closed up the bottle and produced a bandage, wrapping up my knuckles across my palm and down my wrist, so that my fingers and thumb were free.

"Other hand..." he said softly, more asking than commanding.

"O-Oh, I don't have any cuts on my left hand..."

"...doesn't matter. This way you can't bite."

Nodding slowly, I offered him my left hand, and he wrapped it up the same way with a second bandage. He laid both of my hands overtop of his to inspect his work, then nodded once when he was satisfied. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then quickly, as if he would decide against it if he moved any slower, he raised my right hand to his lips and planted a soft kiss across my knuckles.

"M-Muriel..!" I gasped, blushing hotly. He had never done something like that before.

"....sorry," he muttered, blushing even harder than I was and averting his gaze.

"No no, don't say sorry... it was nice. All of this was nice... thank you."


End file.
